Fire indicator and extinguishing system



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1. S. BROIGHGANS. FIRE INDICATOR- AND BXTINGUISHING SYSTEM. No. 446,200.

Patented Feb. 10; 1891.

(No Model.)

. v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

S. BROIOHGANS.

FIRE IN-DIOATOR AND EXTINGUISHING SYSTEM.

Patented Feb. 10, 1891.

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i 1 NITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FIRE INDICATOR AND E XTI NGUISHING SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 446,200, dated February 10', 1891.

Application tiled October 29, 1890. Serial Ito, 369,717. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, STEPHAN BROICHGANS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee, and in the State of \Visconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire- Indicators and Extinguishing Systems; and I do hereby declare that'the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts, to be hereinafterdescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings, and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation, partly in section, of my fire indicator and extinguishing mechanism; Fig. 2, a detail front elevation, partly broken away and illustrating the indicator mechanism; Fig. 3, a plan view, partly in section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a plan View of the extinguisher mechanism, partly in horizontal section on line i 4 of the succeeding figure; Fig. 5, a side elevation of said extinguisher mechanism, partly in section; and Fig. (3, a vertical transverse section on line 6 0 of Fig. 4:.

Referring by letter to the drawings, A represents a base, to which is secured a rightangle plate B, connected to a dial 0 by means ofone or more rods 1), and said plate and dial are provided with bearings for an arbor D, that carries a pinion E and pointer F, the

-latter being on the outside of the aforesaid dial. The pinion E is in mesh with a segmental rack E on one arm G of a bell-crank that is fast on an arbor H, the latter having its hearings in the plate and dial above described, said bell-crank being controlled by a spiral spring G, as shown in Fig. 1. The other arm I of the bell-crank has a link-connection J with an arm K, that forms a rightangle extension of a lever L, that has its bearings in brackets c, rearwardly extended from the plate B, and this lever is arranged in the path of a series of fingers M loose on a rod N that is supported in brackets 0, also rearwardly extended from said plate.

The horizontal portion of the plate B, that rests on the base A, is provided with supports d for a rod P, on which is Wound the coils-e of a series of springs Q, that impinge against the fingers M, above described. The upper ends of the fingers are notched to receive bell-crank latches R, arranged on a rod f, that is supported in the brackets O, and said latches are connected by means of links g with armatures S, loose on a rod 72, that has its supports 0' on the base A, each armature being in opposition to an'electro-magnet T, in circuit with a battery U, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. The horizontal portion of the plate B is also provided with a fiangej, having screw-threaded openings arranged at intervals to engage set-screws k, that serve to limit the movement of the fingers M 0pposed thereto, whereby a variable throw of the lever L is obtained, and through the latter and the rack-andpinion mechanism, having the link-connection therewith, the pointer F is actuated and rotated a predetermined distance around the adjacent dial.

In various stories of a building one or more sprinkler heads are located and placed in circuit with the battery and one of the electromagnets above described. The dischargepipe V of each sprinkler-head is provided with lateral guide-lugs m for engagement with slots 11 in the sides of a rectangular yoke WV, these sides of said yoke being passed up through openings in the disk X, the latter being provided with a washer p, opposed to the mouth of said discharge-pipe. Pivotally connected to a bracket 0' on the discharge-pipe V, at right angles to the lugs m, are curved arms Y, that extend on opposi e sides of said pipe and are provided with lugs s that normally engage the slots at in the yoke W, this engagement being above the guide-lugs m on the aforesaid pipe. By the construction and arrangement of parts just described, the disk X and its washer-p are normally supported, a set-screw 25, having its bearingin the yoke V, being employed to effect a positive adjustment of said disk and washer, whereby the latter is held tight against the force of water in the water-distributing system. The free ends of the arms Y are on opposite sides of a Wedge-block Z, pivotally connected to a bracket 25, extended from the discharge-pipe V in the path of a thermostat, the latter being shown as preferably comprising a plug a, having its bearing in a chamber 1;, that is Fig. 5.

Attached to the pivoted block Z is an insulator-bar 00, provided with spring contactplates y 2, that form terminals of the electric circuit above described, one of these contactplates being arranged to rest against the disk X and thus meet the other, when the plug u of the thermostat is operated to move the block Z on its pivot, whereby the circuit is closed.

In describing the operation of my fire indicator and extinguishing system I will assume that the sprinkler-head shown in the drawings is in the third story of a building. If a fire breaks out in this story, the thermostat will operate and cause the pivoted wedgeblock to force the arms Y outward to bring their lugs .9 out of engagement with the slots 11 in the yoke, and thus the force of the water in the pipe V is exerted against the washerp to force the latter with its disk X away from the mouth of said pipe, said yoke sliding on its guides m to permit of this operation, after which said disk acts as a distributer for the water. As the operation just described takes place, the plates y .2 are brought into contact to close the electric circuit, and thus one of the electro-magnets '1, corresponding to the story in which the fire is burning, is energized to attract its opposing armature S, and thereby operate the relative bell-crank latch R to bring the latter away from the springeontrolled finger M, with which it normally engages. The finger being released, its springQ acts to force it over against the lever L, and thus the latter is actuated to operate the rackand-pinion mechanism E E, whereby the pointer F is moved around the dial 0 until it arrives at the Fig. 3 or other designation for the storyin which the fire is burning, further movement of the pointer being arrested by said finger coming into contact with its relative stop or set-screw 7t, and the spring G pulling against said lever.-

Having thus described my invention, what I claim new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a fire indicator and extinguisher system, a dial and pointer, the latter having its arbor provided with a pinion, a bell-crank provided with a rack in mesh with the pinion, a pivoted lever having an arm linked to the bell-crank, a series of spring-controlled fingers opposed to the lever, electrical] y-actuated latches for engagement with the fingers, and a stop arranged to limit the movement of each of said fingers, substantially as set forth.

2. In a fire indicator and extinguisher system, a dial and pointer, the latter having its arbor provided with a pinion, a spring-controlled bell-crank provided with a rack in mesh with the pinion, a pivoted lever having an arm linked to the bell-crank, a series of spring-controlled fingers opposedlto the lever, electrically-actuated latches for engagement with the fingers, and a stop arranged to limit the movement of each of said fingers, substantially as set forth.

3. In a fire indicator and extinguisher system, a dial and pointer, the latter having its arbor provided with a pinion, a bell-crank provided with a rack in mesh with the pinion, a pivoted lever having an arm linked to the bell-crank, a series of spring-controlled fih= gers opposed to the lever, bell-crank latches for the fingers in opposition to the springs controlling the latter, armatures linked to the latches, electro-magnets in circuit with an electric battery and opposed to the armatures, and a distant thermally-actuated circuit-closing mechanism in circuit with each electromagnet, substantially as set forth.

4. In a fire indicator and extinguisher syste1n,a water-discharge pipe provided with lateral guide-lugs, a yoke provided-with slots engaging the lugs, a closure for the pipe adjustable on the yoke, pivoted arms curved around opposite sides of said pipe and provided with lugs engaging the yoke-s10 ts above the pipe-lugs, a pivoted wedge-block opposed,

to the free ends of the arms, and a thermostat for actuating said wedge-block, substantially as set forth.

5. In a fire indicator and extinguisher system, a water-discharge pipe provided with lateral guide-lugs, a yoke provided with slots engaging the lugs, a closure for the pipe adjustable on the yoke, pivoted arms curved around opposite sides of said pipe and provided with lugs engaging the yoke-slots above the pi pe-lugs, a pivoted wedge-block opposed to the free ends of the arms, a thermostat for actuating the wedge-block, an electric circuit having terminals carried by said wedge-block in opposition to the pipe-closu re and normally out of contact, and an electrically-controlled indicator mechanism in circuit with the aforesaid wedge-block, substantially as set forth.

In testimony thatI claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at Milwaukee, in the count-y of Milwaukee and State ofWisconsin, in the presence of two witnesses.

STEPHAN BROICHGANS. lVitnesses:

H. G. UNDERWOOD, WM. KLUG. 

